The hum from all the commotion inside the Sachem North gymnasium could be heard in the parking lot. In the hallways, cheers and shouts became audible. Once you stepped inside the gym, the wave of energy finally hit you, as if you had just walked into the Super Bowl.

Smithtown East, loudest of them all, was less than 24 hours removed from a subpar performance in an event the Bulls hosted Saturday. But “it didn’t hold them back,” coach Elizabeth Schlitt said. “It pushed them forward.”

So Carlen called up eighth-grader Ashley Davison from junior varsity — “It was scary, but also really exciting,” Davison said — and the team used its practice on Saturday to adjust accordingly.

“It was pretty hard, trying to change everything at the last minute,” junior Alexa Pinnavaia said, “but we came out and had one of our best performances of the year.”

A last-minute audible pushed the Bulls’ trust in one another into the spotlight.

“They realized that they had to pull together,” said junior Barbara Leigh Petillo, who cheered on her teammates from the sideline with a shoulder injury. “It was special to watch, and really, what they did today is what cheerleading is all about.”

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